so how do you think that forecast is, kim? >> that's fantastic. and traffic wise, we are doing really well. no incidents early on. as we look at our drive times, all roads leading towards the beltway are going to be looking good. 83 no problems on down. in 795 is going to be smooth sailing. only a 4 minute ride there. as we check our cameras, here is the beltway. very light volume. no problems around 695 and 95 corridor looks good as well. megan, back to you. this video was sent to us by one of our viewers. it's fueled by high winds. firefighters really busy before 11:30 last night, putting out this apartment fire. this is the corner of charles street and madison avenue. no one was injured in this fire. but firefighters had their hands full last night and this morning there's going to be a lot of clean up after about a

dozen homes caught on fire in different locations all fanned by high winds. more than 100 baltimore city firefighters were working these fires. even crews from howard county had to come in to help. the fires were in the west baltimore area. you can see a map of the area we are talking about. linda so is live with the latest. linda. >> reporter: like you mentioned, it was a busy night for firefighters, not only here in the city, but firefighters from surrounding counties were called in for help. here in the city alone, more than 100 firefighters were required to battle a number of fires that were fanned by those gusty winds. fast moving flames tore through almost a dozen row homes. the first fire broke out around 5:30 in the afternoon. now firefighters were attempting to put out those flames, another row of homes caught fire and a block away,

flames shot through other row homes. >> the flames started over here in the old funeral home. and they just leaped across the street. it didn't look like it was going to come over to the house, but it did. >> reporter: that woman says she lost everything in the fire, including her pet cat. the red cross is assisting those families that were displaced. some of the row homes that caught on fire yesterday were vacant. we're live at city fire headquarters, linda so, abc2 news. >> locally a man is charged with murder and arson in the death of his ex-wife. police say 34-year-old damon white stabbed thelma winn before intentionally setting her apartment on fire. winn is in stable condition.

he'll be taken into custody. it's become a national debate to burn or not to burn. a pastor in florida wants to set the koran on fire on the 9th anniversary of september 11. as you can imagine, leaders here in baltimore are speaking out about this. sherrie johnson joins us in the studio with more sherry. >> that outraged muslim, nonmuslims, liberals, and conservatives worldwide. general david patraeus who leads u.s. troops in afghanistan said the koran burns would put those troops in more danger. the head of a local islamic group says terri jones plan shows a misunderstanding of his religion and a disrespect for all religions. >> it doesn't matter whether he does the burning on saturday or not. what matters is his message, what he stands for, and all of the people around him that support him. >> now in addition to saturday being the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, friday is the

last day of it romadon. we want you to weigh in on this issue. what do you think the reprecushions will be if the minister goes along with this plan? head to our facebook fan page and leave your comments. arthur wrote in overnight, the president should step in and intercede with this proceeding. he is putting countless lives at stake. >> he is the personification of hate over shadowing love, respect, and tolerance. if you would like to leave your two cents, head to our wmar facebook fan page. a baltimore county family hopes craigslist will provide answers in a critical injury of a loved one. bobby ross was the victim of a hit-and-run back in august. now his family is asking for your help to find the person

responsible. abc2 news explains. >> his family admits, bobby ross had hit some hard times. living in a homeless shelter, not being able to take care of his 14-year-old boy. he was aiming to turn his life around. august 15, his life turned upside down. >> he actually right now, the prognosis, the doctors aren't sure at this point. he has massive brain damage. >> bobby is in a coma now and barely responsive. he was the victim of a hit-and- run as he was crossing gilford on a sunday. witnesses say the driver stopped at first, then sped off. beyond that, ross' family know nothing. three weeks later and police have yet to call, making her feel like nobody even cares. >> i'm not saying i'm frustrated. i'm just saying i think they

need to do more, you know. as time goes on, he's going to be forgotten. >> certainly investigators will be interviewing the witnesses. we'll check to see if there were any cameras in the area. we will look at that footage. also asking the public. >> the family can't wait for police any longer. they posted this craigslist ad asking for any information, even posting the same request on our facebook page. hoping, praying someone knows something. >> someone saw something that can come forward or they know the person that did this and they can come forward. >> taking matters into their own hands, looking for the person who stopped her brother's life at the intersection of center and gilford. in baltimore, brian kuebler, abc2 news. >> she received a few phone calls from ads, but so far, no real leads. that story is on our website if you want to help out. controversy involving a small florida congregation.

>> fans the flames. the world waits to see if a pastor follows through with his promise to burn the koran. i'm emily schmidt in washington. that story coming up. plus flash flooding sparked by the remnants of tropical storm hermine. we have the latest on that. let's get the latest on the trains and buses. here is mark jones. good morning. >> good morning. the commute start is a good run right now if your ride is on light rail or the metro subway, both operating on time. the numbers 5, 19, and 27 and 91 taking a diversion at fayette and utah for construction and look for the 10 and number 30 buses to be diverted at light and pratt, also construction related. mark train on time. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones. [ male announcer ] it's sunday afternoon.

time for football on verizon fios. the nfl in 100% fiber-optic hd quality. that's a good start. but what's this? i can check my fantasy stats without changing the channel. and get an alert any time my team enters the red zone. and then watch every red zone play on nfl redzone. watch out couch, you've got competition as daddy's favorite. it's time for fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v visit verizon.com/getfios. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] era. tough on stains.

easy on your wallet. everyone knows a fee is a tax. you raised some taxes during that period, particularly the property tax as well as a lot of fee increases. as you know, there's a big difference between fees and taxes. but...they're the same. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. there's a big difference between fees and taxes. fees and taxes are one in the same. if it comes out of my pocket, it's a tax. now he says it isn't true. we didn't raise taxes. what? still doing the same thing, paying out more money. typical politician. definitely. ten minutes after 5:00 right now. the remnants of hermine caused a dangerous situation in arlington, texas. the water rose so quickly, emergency responders took whatever means necessary to get people in need. residents were trapped on

rooftops and balconies after flash flooding turned roads into rivers. cars were barely visible. homes were islands. even pets needed help to reach dry land. now, the forecast certified most accurate by weather rate and maryland's most powerful doppler radar. >> good morning, everyone. yes, flooding is definitely a threat across that area. they also had a lot of tornadoes as well. let me show you the national map here. you can get the perspective of where you're seeing lots of flooding around the area there. they actually have it moving into portions of arkansas and also into missouri. and the rain fall amounts of 2 to 4 inches with localized higher amounts can be expected through friday morning. back here at home, we definitely need some rain across the area. we are looking at maryland's most powerful radar and there is nothing. what we are dealing with are windy conditions for today and also very dry. the humidity is very low. we can see some of the

temperatures now into annapolis around 63. check out the gust. west, northwest, 28 being reported at that site right now. darlington 57 degrees with a gust of 10 miles an hour in the west and denton with a westerly flow. 21 miles an hour. so yes, we will be getting gusts as we go throughout the day. let's toss this over to kim brown. >> good morning. we are quiet incident wise. no accidents this morning to let you know about. a couple head's up in baltimore city at northern parkway and charles street. the traffic lights are out, so keep that in mind. treat that as a four-way stop. also on going construction near pratt street at the convention center has the two right lanes blocked once rush hour gets cooking. as we look at our drive times, no delays on the 895. 6 minutes between the 95 split and 295. 95 southbound runs smoothly between route 32 and no issues on the southwest side. a 6 minute trip between i-70 and 95.

as we look at our cam cameras. traffic is moving at a nice pace. >> 13 minutes after 5:00 this morning. baltimore's newest raven, tj opens up about his childhood and why he has had such a great appreciation for the nfl. and making the move. men, can you dance your way to a woman's heart? especially if you look like that you can. we'll find out coming up. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o [ child giggles ]

storm gear and promotional consideration provided by l.l. bean. 5:16 right now. looking for work? it is a position a lot of people find themselves in these days and it's tough. after losing his job with the seattle seahawks, it took tj haushmandzadeh one day to gear up for game day. lamont williams has more. >> as tj haushmandzadeh was introduced to the media, no one could help but notice the smile on his face.

haushmandzadeh became one of the most dangerous duos in the game. tj left the bengals and signed with seattle, playing one game before they released him. for tj, there was no reason for smiles. as the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. >> it is refreshing to be -- to go from the situation i was in and to come here is refreshing. >> tj admits his first day in the ravens uniform was weird, in a good way. >> i tried my helmets on and it was a little weird. i'm not a person that really likes change. i am starting to realize that about myself, but sometimes change is better. >> haushmandzadeh says as a child growing up in poverty, he was learned life lessons the hard way. he has a greater appreciation

for the nfl. >> i shouldn't be here. i never graduated from high school. i'm not supposed to be here. i played one year of football my whole life before i went to college. there were times when i had to literally -- we had nothing to eat in the house. i'm 14 years old. i'm taking care of everybody. my mama, my older sister, my two younger brothers. they relied on me. >> now the ravens will rely on him to put up as many big games as he has letters in his name. on the receiving end of many joe flacco passes. >> the boy can throw the ball, though. kind of like playing with carson almost. >> that's enough to bring back the smile. at the council in owens mills -- >> for me to come here and them accept me and want me on the team, i'm going to try to do my part, that's it. >> lamont williams, abc2 news. >> on monday night, the ravens open the season. they take on the jets in new

jersey. kickoff is set for 7:00. counting down the days until komen's race for the cure. it's set for sunday, october 3 in hunt valley. abc2 news will be live on air. that happens from 7:00 in the morning until 9:00 in the morning. you can register for the big race by heading to our website, abc2news.com. look at the top of the page and click on the lifestyle tab and click on think pink. now the forecast certified most accurate by weather rate and maryland's most powerful doppler radar. >> good morning, everyone. it is thursday. we are chopping the week down. we like this and if you like the warmer temperatures, well we got it again yesterday. 92 degrees, so what is that? the 56th day? yes, definitely record territory once again. as we saw that cold front move through. you can see what it felt like in pittsburgh. the temperature at 75 degrees yesterday, altoona 79. it took a while to get to us.

we are feeling that for today. right now, we are at 58 degrees into baltimore. 57 into altoona. yes, it is a chilly start to the morning. so make sure you grab that jacket as you head out and about or a sweater. you will need that as you go through time. now big story for today, the dew points, the measure of the moisture in the air. the relative humidity is very low. you can see we don't have that green, all that moisture here. it's down to the south. we are looking at dew points at 48. so that's some very dry air. when you get into the 50s, that's very nice and comfortable. anything below that is very dry air. that's the -- you could split wood with that type of air. we are looking at the wind here. that's another big factor for today. these winds will be out of the northwest as we go into time and with that, we are looking at now a sustained wind into baltimore at 7 miles per hour and into frederick about 9. it will be picking up as we go throughout the day. i want to say sustained up to

15 miles per hour. as we are looking at what is going on. our weather pattern has high pressure coming down from canada and we have that cool, dry air as this cold front has passed through. you can see the warmer air to the south and that will continue over the next several days or so. we are looking at the tropics and we have tropical storm ior. for today, that temperature is going to be around 78 degrees. mostly sunny, and it is going to be mild and breezy. so it's going to be a great day to get out there and eat that lunch outdoors. i would say, the winds are going to kick up. you could see a lot of trash blowing across the area. if today is your trash day, bring that trash indoors because it will be everywhere. tonight, that temperature coming in at 56 degrees. it's going to be mostly clear and cool. so yes, another cool evening and then another cool morning as well. but tomorrow, that temperature right around 77 degrees. so 78 today, 77 tomorrow. still lots of sunshine in the forecast. it's going to be mild and still going to be on the breezy side

as well. let's take it over to traffic with kim brown. >> thanks linette. we are off it a good start. if you are happy to be headed towards the dc area, no problems on 95 between the beltway approaching 495, traffic is moving very nice. so is the bw parkway and no problems as you make your way toward washington this morning. around our area, we are very quiet. here is 95 as you see, traffic is flowing pretty freely. very light and moderate volume. no problems. as we check our drive times, no delays on the harrisburg expressway. five minutes between 695, on the topside of outer loop. no delays there and the jfx is wide open from the beltway on down to northern parkway, about a 4 minute ride. megan, back to you. >> it is september 9, 5:23 right now and time to say happy birthday to george randall turning 15 today. george, happy birthday. he and his family have lived here for two years after moving from fairfax county.

we are glad to have you in baltimore and a birthday with kendra. she is celebrating her 7th birthday there, so happy birthday. i hope you do something very fun today. if you're celebrating a birthday today. just tell us. e-mail a picture of whoever it is celebrating a birthday. give us all the details. morningshow@wmar.com. helpful piece of advice for gentleman trying to impress a lady. scientists in the uk claim to have unlocked dance moves that make women feel attracted to men doing them. and wouldn't look at your screen and take this advice, just as a woman myself. but psychologists use 3d motion to capture technology. men who showed flexibility and creativity were more attractive than men who showed the rigid limited dance moves like the robot. keep that in mind.

kim brown says she likes mc hammer? >> yes. >> the typewriter, a little sideways move. they are an attraction along street corners. people dressed up in costumes to drum up business. but one city wants to ban human billboards. we'll find out why. s9óg

5:27 in the morning. entertainment news right now. it is official. we heard rumors that pierce morgan, a panelist on america's got talent is headed to cnn. the british journalist will host a show very similar to larry king's long time show interviewing people and all of this starts in january. >> oscar fans can get an up close look at celeb ties on the red carpet. next week, anyone can apply online to take part in a random drawing for one of the 700 seats along the walkway to the kodak theater. mark your calendars. and from the boxing ring to one for teething. former heavy weight champion, mike tyson and his wife are expecting a baby boy in january. it's the couple's second child together. it is mike tyson's eighth child. now the forecast certified most accurate by weather rate and maryland's most powerful doppler radar. good morning and happy

thursday to everyone. we are looking pretty good. we have lots of sunshine out there once the sun comes up. as we go throughout the day. temperatures are going to be nice as well. check out your seven-day forecast. there is a little bit of change. temperature for today, around 78 degrees. 77 on friday. ample sunshine and we get back into the 80s, but the weekend brings a chance of showers in the forecast, but we do need the rain. that's definitely good news. let's head up to new york for tech bites. >> in today's tech bites, google speeds up searches. the company unveiled google instant. the feature displays search results as soon as you start typing. for example, type a in results for aol come up. google expects instant to save users 2 to 5 seconds on every search. nike released a new app for the iphone. tracks your pace, distance, and route and plots it on a map. there's also a challenge me feature designed to push you to

go further, faster, or longer than previous runs and a way to get feedback during your run. >> you soon may be able to update your status messages while driving. voice command software that would let drivers update and listen to messages. gm says it won't rule out the feature until it's sure it won't distract drivers. those are your tech bites. i'm rob nelson. this morning's tech bites brought to you by aleve.